Device for holding photographic paper during photographic processing operation

ABSTRACT

A device for holding photographic paper during a photographic processing operation comprises an elongated handle member having retention members mounted thereon for holding the paper in a roughly cylindrical or curled form. These retention members may comprise paper-retention clips, a single ring secured to the handle, or a plurality of rings vertically stacked to form a basket. The paper is held with the emulsion side facing inwardly during processing and the handle extends beyond the bottom and top edges of the paper.

United States Patent 1191 Pavelle et al.

' Nov. 13, 1973 DEVICE FOR HOLDING PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER DURING Pl-IOTOGRAPIIIC PROCESSING OPERATION [75] Inventors: Samuel Pavelle, White Plains, N.Y.;

Ronald Bernard Johnstone, Roseland, NJ.

[73] Assignee: The Parelle Corporation, New York,

[22] Filed: Feb. 25, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 229,357

, 521 US. Cl. 95/100, 95/96 [51] Int. Cl. G03d 1/04 [58] Field of Search 95/100, 90.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,452,664 7/1969 Shapiro a a] 95/100 x Primary Examiner-Richard M. Sheer Attorney-Harvey W. Mortimer et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A device for holding photographic paper during a photographic processing operation comprises an elongated handle member having retention members mounted thereon for holding the paper in a roughly cylindrical or curled form. These retention members may comprise paper-retention clips, a single ring secured tothe handle, or a plurality of rings vertically stacked to form a basket. The paper is held with the emulsion side facing inwardly during processing and the handle extends beyond the bottom and top edges of the paper.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PAIENIEmmv 13 I975 SHEEI 1 BF 2 FIG. 3

PATENTED BUY 1 3 i975 SHEEI 20F 2 FIG. 8

DEVICE FOR HOLDING PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER DURING PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSING OPERATION Thepresent invention relates to a device for holding photographic paper during a photographic printing process or the like.

The processing of'color prints is a complex job which requires a substantial amount of experience. It is difficult for an amateur or other unskilled user' to' achieve satisfactory results because the delicate nature of the paper requires that all portions of it be treated uniformly to prevent color streaking or inbalance. Among other things, uniform development requires uniform agitation of the developing chemicals during the process, which, ordinarily, requires the skill of an expert. In addition, the emulsion of the paper is highly suscep tible to physical damage-during processing if it is not properly handled. I

The present invention relates to a device for holding photographic paper during a manual processing cycle so as to minimize the possibility of non-uniform development and emulsion damage. The invention retains the photographic paper during development in a compact form, allowing the use of cylindricalprocessing tanks which are cheaper and easier to build and maintain, thus further simplifying the entire process.-

Briefly, in accordance with the invention, a paperholding device for use in photographic printing processes or the like comprises at least-one elongated handle member having mounted thereon means for holding the paper in a roughly cylindrical form with the emulsion side in. The holding means restrains the paper from movement in a direction along the axis of the cylinder and the handle member extends beyond the top edge of the paper so that it can be conveniently grasped by the user. The invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings, wherein Y FIG. I is a perspective view of a holder according to a first embodiment of the invention shown in conjunction with the material required to use the invention in a photographic printing process; I

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a container for one of the photographic chemicals showing how the holder is used duringthe process;

FIG. 3 is a top sectional view along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a third the invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view along the line 8-8 of FIG.

embodiment of The holder devices according to the invention are intended to be used in a manual chemical process of the type, for example, used by amateurs and salesmen of photographic. products, as well as professionals. The invention has great utility in the latter case since the required materials can be packaged in a portable system which, with minimum difficulty, will yield excellent results. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a thermally insulated container 10 having a'hinged cover 12 may be used to carry all of the chemicals required for a printing process. Container 10 may comprise a commercially available insulated chest containing water (for example) as shown at 14, which is maintained at a desired temperature by means of a thermostat-controlled heating unit 16. Heating unit 16, for example, may be the type commonly used in home aquariums. A thermometer 18 provides an indication of the temperature at which the chemicals are maintained.

Two cylindrical tanks 20 and 22 are placed within the container 10. These tanks contain the chemicals which are required to process the image on the paper after it has been exposed. As an example, tanks 20 and 22 may contain a color developer and a stop bleach fix, respectively, used to process the image..A washing aid which is used to reduce the washing time after processing may be kept in a third tank (not shown) similar to tanks 20 and 22. The chemicals in tanks 20 and 22 are maintained at the required temperature by the heater 16. The wash and' wash aid do not require close temperature control.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, the

device for holding the paper comprises an elongated handle member 26 having oppositely disposed clips 28 and 30 secured thereto. Clips 28 and 30 are adapted to hold opposite edges of the photographic paper 32 so that the paper will form a' roughly cylindrical form with the emulsion side in when it is retained by the clips. As shown clearly in FIG. 2, the lowermost extremity of the handle 26 extends beyond the bottom edge of paper 32. This minimizes the likelihood of the paper striking the bottom of the container which might affect the quality of the finished print. Folding the paper with the emul' sionto the inside of the cylinder adequately prevents physical damage to the image by possible contact with the sides of the tank.

Clips 28 and 30 are known devices, each consisting of two levers 34 and 35 pinned at 36 and biased by spring means (not shown) to close apair of gripping jaws 37 and 38. When the arms 34 and 35 are pressed together, the jaws 37 and 38 open to receive an edge of the paper 32. In thepreferred embodiment, the handle member 26 includes flat sides to which the respective levers 34 are secured (for example, by an adhesive). Since both clips 28 and 30 are located at approximately the same position on the handle, the user can open both clips'witha single hand by forcing the levers 35 together. Two opposing edges of paper 32 may then be inserted between the respective jaws 37 and 38 to hold the paper as shown in the drawings. has In using the invention, the paper first exposed to the image of a negative or transparency in the usualfashion. The user then opens the clips 28 and 30 and inserts the edges of the paper 32 as shown. Holding the upper end of the handle 26, the cylindrical paper is then dipped into the color developer within bottle 20 and held there for the required time. Agitation of the developer within bottle 20 is provided by moving the holder in the ellipitical path represented by the arrow 40. It has been found that, using the invention, uniform agitation of the chemicals can be provided by a substantially less skilled operator than is possible with other types of compara- 'ble paper holders.

The holder with the paper is then removed from tank- 20 and inserted into the stop bleach fix within tank 22 and the same agitating process repeated for the required time. Thereafter, the paper is washed in the water within an additional tank (not shown) while it is v a a line to dry.

In the presently preferred embodiment, the handle member 26 is made of plastic and the clips 28 and 30 are made of stainless steel. The levers 34 are adhered to the handle 26 by plastic screws. It is contemplated that many different clipping arrangements can be substituted for that illustrated herein including, possibly, the use of clips integrally formed with handle 26 and including no moving parts.

The basic clip arrangement of FIGS. 1-3 can also be used to hold a plurality of prints at one time. Preferably, for this purpose, the handle member 26 will be L- shaped in cross-section with one or more pairs of clips 28, 30 attached, as described, to both sides of the L.

FIG. 4 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention which also includes a handle member 26 as shown in FIGS. 1-3. However, in place of clips 28 and 30, a chemically inert plastic ring 50 is secured to handle member 26 to hold the paper 32 in a curled cylindrical form with the emulsion side in. The ring 50 may be secured to handle 26 by plastic screws (not shown). Two projections 52 and 54 extend outwardly from handle member 26 to prevent movement of the curled paper along the handle axis. The spacing of these projections on the handle and the diameter of ring 50 will depend on the size of the paper to be processed.

The advantage of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 is that the user can easily insert the paper into the holder under darkroom conditions without having to manually operate the clips of FIGS. 13.

FIGS. and 6 illustrate a third embodiment of the invention similar to the embodiment of FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the handle member includes two struts 60 and 62 to which a U-shaped upper handle 64 is hingedly secured. Three plastic rings 66, 68 and 69 are secured to the handle members 60 and 62 to form a basket. A pair of struts 70 and 72 may be used, if required, to further brace the construction with the parts being secured together by plastic screws (not shown). Each of the handle members 60 and 62 and struts 70 and 72 terminate in a lowermost, upwardly curved reoted into engagement with the upper edge of the paper to limit axial movement of the curled paper.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which the paperholding means is removable from the handle member. The holding means includes a ring 80 and clip 82 se cured to a flexible strip 84 by-(for example) a plastic nut 86 and plastic screw 88. Ring 80, clip 82 and strip 84 may be made of an inert plastic and the prongs of clip 82 are flexible so that the holding means can be snapped onto the handle 90 by the clip alone. The strip 84 may be flexed to facilitate insertion and removal of the paper.

The top and bottom of strip 84 are bent transversely to form retention members 92 and 94, respectively, which engage the upper and lower edges of the paper to prevent longitudinal movement. Lower member 94 may be bent to an oblique angle so that it can serve as a hook for drying the print after processing.

Although a single holding means is shown clipped to handle member 90 in FIG. 7, two, three or more holders of this construction may be clipped to a single handle 90 for the purpose of simultaneously processing a plurality of prints.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for holding photographic paper during a manual photographic process, comprising an elongated handle member, a ring having its longitudinal axis extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle member, said ring being secured to said handle member for holding photographic. paper in an approximately cylindrical shape, said device further including retention members on one of said ring and handle, said retention members extending inwardly generally toward the longitudinal axis of said ring for engaging the upper and lower edges of such paper, said retention members preventing substantial movement of the paper along the axis of the handle member, said handle member extending substantially beyond one of said retention members.

2. A holding device according to claim 1, wherein said handle member includes a plurality of struts and wherein at least two rings having their longitudinal axis extending parallel to the plurality of struts are secured to said struts to form a basket for retaining such paper.

3. A device for holding photographic paper according to claim 1, wherein said ring is secured to one side of an elongated strip of flexible material, said retention members being formed from said elongated strip, said device further including a clip member secured to the other side of said elongated strip for engaging said handle member.

4. A device for holding photographic paper according to claim 3, wherein said retention members are projections formed by folding the ends of said strip toward each other.

5. A device for holding photographic paper according to claim 1, wherein said retention members are integrally formed with said handle member. 

1. A device for holding photographic paper during a manual photographic process, comprising an elongated handle member, a ring having its longitudinal axis extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle member, said ring being secured to said handle member for holding photographic paper in an approximately cylindrical shape, said device further including retention members on one of said ring and handle, said retention members extending inwardly generally toward the longitudinal axis of said ring for engaging the upper and lower edges of such paper, said retention members preventing substantial movement oF the paper along the axis of the handle member, said handle member extending substantially beyond one of said retention members.
 2. A holding device according to claim 1, wherein said handle member includes a plurality of struts and wherein at least two rings having their longitudinal axis extending parallel to the plurality of struts are secured to said struts to form a basket for retaining such paper.
 3. A device for holding photographic paper according to claim 1, wherein said ring is secured to one side of an elongated strip of flexible material, said retention members being formed from said elongated strip, said device further including a clip member secured to the other side of said elongated strip for engaging said handle member.
 4. A device for holding photographic paper according to claim 3, wherein said retention members are projections formed by folding the ends of said strip toward each other.
 5. A device for holding photographic paper according to claim 1, wherein said retention members are integrally formed with said handle member. 